Can I omit source code copyright from executable or library that uses MIT licensed code?

Question

The MIT license states:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

Does this apply to just the source code? Or must copyright also be included in all compiled forms including binary and executable. For those who were wondering, the license does not define "Software."

I think this is a situation where it will be very hard to judge the quality of your answer without a clear argument and citation to precedent (if you argue in the negative).

Thanks Stack Overflow!

Answer 1

You aren't required to add the license to the binary files, as the license is about the availavility of the source.

You could just add a single text file to your application and you'd comply with the license.

For example, in case you want to minify your js in a webpage, you could strip all licenses and add them in a text file that is on a <link>. I'm not a lawer, but you are showing that the reason you are not including the license in every source fetch is a technical one, and not in ill fate.

As long as you provide the license somewere, you are complying.

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

I think that the license is referring to the fact that you have to make it clear that you are using MIT licensed software.

So if you include enough pointers to the license both on the documentation and the source code, I think you are safe.

Of course, IANAL.

Answer 2

If you're not sure why not just include it in the binary and/or documentation just to be safe?

Answer 3

The MIT License:

Copyright (c)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

The MIT license talks about distributing software, not distributing sourcecode. You will need to add a separate text file with this license text inside it. Just call it "LICENSE" for Linux or "License.txt" for Windows, as long as you include it.

Basically, it's one of the simplest licenses since it tells you to do with the software whatever you want but if it destroys your computer, shoots your dog, divorces your wife, makes your oldest daughter pregnant or anything worse then tough! There are no warranties so use at your own risk. Without it, you'd be liable for possible damage.